The defendants at a court in January (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) –The appeal trial for the case involving MobiFoneTelecommunications Corporation’s purchase of a 95 percent share in Audio VisualGlobal JSC (AVG), initially scheduled for April 13-16, will be suspended due tothe COVID-19 concern, the High-Level People’s Court in Hanoi announcedon April 2.
In the case, eleven of the14 defendants filed appeals, asking for clemency and reduced sentences. Later,former General Director of MobiFone Cao Duy Hai and former Director of the AMAXinvestment consultancy and valuation company Vo Van Manh withdrew theirrequests.
Three defendants did notappeal against their penalties, namely former Minister of Information andCommunications Truong Minh Tuan, former head of the ministry’s Department ofEnterprise Management Pham Dinh Trong, and former Chairman of the AVG Board of Directors Pham Nhat Vu.
During the first-instance trial on December 16-28, 2019, the Hanoi’s PeopleCourt handed down a jail term of eight years to Truong Minh Tuan for “taking bribes” andanother six years for “violating regulations on the management and use ofpublic investment capital, causing serious consequences”. The total sentencefor him is 14 years behind bars.
Trong received a five-year term for “violating regulations on the managementand use of public investment capital, causing serious consequences”. Meanwhile,Vu would spend three years in jail for “giving bribes”.
Among the nine defendantsgoing to court this time, former Minister of Information and CommunicationsNguyen Bac Son was given life imprisonment for “taking bribes” and 16 years inprison for “violating regulations on the management and use of publicinvestment capital, causing serious consequences”. The total sentence is lifeimprisonment.
Former Deputy General Directors of MobiFone Ho Tuan and Nguyen Manh Hungreceived a prison sentence of two and a half years each for “violating regulationson the management and use of public investment capital, causing seriousconsequences”, according to the first-instance trial’s verdict.
Nguyen Dang Nguyen, MobiFoneDeputy General Director, got two years in prison for “violating regulations onthe management and use of public investment capital, causing seriousconsequences.”
The Hanoi People’s Court found that in 2015, MobiFone, run by the Ministry ofInformation and Communications, bought 95 percent of AVG’s shares for 8.9trillion VND (375 million USD), much higher than their actual value. The dealcaused a loss of over 6.59 trillion VND (277 million USD) to the State./.
VNA
